1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to mobile data communications systems, and more particularly to data collection and processing systems for generating status records and for tracking operations of transferring articles, the systems using portable data terminal devices including hand-held data collection terminals for collecting, selectively processing and for communicating collected data to other system elements. Data may manually be collected via keyboard entry or they may be read in automatically by scanning indicia of information with a scanner, for example with a bar code reader. Collected data may become part of data bases or may be used at the site of acquisition for any of various operations. Operations may include printing out price tags of shelf items, printing customer sales receipts, orders, confirmations, invoices, or bar code labels for marking merchandise items. Collected data may be retained temporarily in memory of hand-held data collection terminals for future transmission as a batch transfer operation to a central data processing station of a data system. Alternatively, data may be transmitted by RF processes on a real time basis to the central station for inventory or billing purposes.
2. Discussion of Prior Developments
The prior art has developed to a state in which radio links between a central computer as a central data processing station and a plurality of substations is becoming well established in the art. Portable, hand held data terminals are coupled via RF (Radio Frequency) wireless data links to a transceiver and a multiplexing station and such a central processing station. The hand held data terminals are used, for example, for restocking merchandise items, thus, in the larger sense for real time inventory control and pricing of merchandise items.
In a currently pending patent application by Miller et al. entitled "Transaction Control System Including Portable Data Terminal and Mobile Customer Service Station", U.S. Ser. No. 07/345,146, filed Apr. 28, 1989, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, at least one of the hand held data terminals is replaced by a portable customer service station which may include multiple components which are selectively addressed by the central processing station to print customer information at the portable customer service station, based on data inputs received from one or more of the hand held data terminals in the disclosed transaction system.
Other uses of centrally controlled operations relate to improvements in the delivery or service route business. In operations relating to delivery service, a delivery vehicle may contain a printer module which is mounted within the vehicle and which either may be powered by the vehicle or it may be battery powered and, hence, self-contained. The printer module may have associated therewith a terminal cradle such as is disclosed in a patent application of Phillip Miller et al., filed on Jan. 31, 1989, Ser. No. 07/305,302, entitled "Vehicle Data System", assigned to the assignee of the current invention. A hand held data terminal may be inserted into the cradle. The insertion of the terminal communicatively couples the terminal to the printer to enable the terminal to transfer data to the printer. This type of operation allows the route driver to use the hand held data terminal to complete a transaction at a customer's premises, enter a record of the completed transaction into the terminal, and use some of the entered information of the transaction record in a data transfer to the printer module to generate a printed invoice or waybill to present to the customer on the spot for acknowledgement and f or the customer's records. The data terminal in such an operation may be of a batch type, in which the data terminal retains all transactional information regarding a plurality of deliveries in self contained memory, until the delivery route has been completed. At this time, the collected data may be transferred from the data terminal via a hard-wired data link to a central processing station.
The referred to co-pending application of Phillip Miller et al. further discloses a vehicle data system which expands the use of the hand held data unit to address a plurality of data devices which may be selectively installed and used in a service vehicle. The system may include at least one hand held data terminal which may be temporarily removed to gather data from outside of the vehicle, in a manner similar to that of the delivery route operation. As a particular example, a forklift truck is disclosed as a vehicle the operation of which is being advantageously affected by the vehicle data system. Through the data system an operator of the forklift vehicle may receive operating instructions on a real time basis. Each of the plurality of data devices may be selectively coupled via a vehicle-resident local area network (LAN) to other data devices as addressed, for example, by a LAN controller. A portable hand held data terminal may also contain programming to act as the LAN controller and may be removably received in a mobile mount adapter of the vehicle LAN. Alternatively, an RF modem may be coupled to the LAN and contain the network controller and further couple the LAN data bus with a stationary host central data processing station. The RF modem would be able to periodically supply data from the hand held data terminal and from various other LAN-coupled data terminals or measurement devices to the host station. Similarly, the host station may supply data to a data terminal, such as a printer as needed.
The above-described system of the Phillip Miller et al. patent application includes a further enhancement in that any of the described data terminals, such as a vehicle operation measuring gauges or the vehicle mounted printer, are selectively coupled to the LAN only when fully functional, and are otherwise not recognized as being present as part of the LAN. Though more flexible than state of the art fixed device installations, the operational flexibility of such a system is limited by the configuration of the LAN installed in the vehicle. Data terminal adapters for a predetermined number of data terminals or peripherals must be configured to allow the system to serve a particular need. Even though vehicle LAN systems for the predetermined number of data devices are known to simplify wiring of the vehicle, the desired flexibility permitted under the disclosed vehicle data system would again increase the complexity of locating data terminal adapters selectively include various data terminals.
Improving the functionality of the referred to hand-held data collection terminals has been and will remain the endeavor of artisans skilled in the field of data systems using mobile or portable data collection or processing devices. While progress has been made in improving efficiency and functionality of hand-held data collection terminals, further improvements in functionality and in overall cost at the data collection end appear needed to advance the usefulness of state of the art data collection and processing systems.